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Severe Gas in a Newborn

My daughter is 5 days old and every night except for one she has been up screaming with gas pains. Last night she screamed from 11pm until 4am. I can hear her poor stomach growling and she just screams in pain. The doctor told me that it was normal and that I can us Mylicon drops but they don't seem to work. I don't remember having this with my first child. My daughter is breastfed and I burp her after every feeding. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this or had any tips for soothing her or getting rid of the gas. Someone recommended switching to formula but I really wanted to breastfeed. Thanks!

Featured Answers

M.K.
answers from
Cleveland
on
March 15, 2009

My son went through the same type of thing. He was eventually put on zytrec for almost two years. I took things out of my diet and nothing worked. I would not change to formula, that could really aggrevate the baby's stomach.

More Answers

Mylicon should help - but if they don't try Gerber Gas drops. I've heard that some kids do better with one over the other, so that might be something to try.

Something else to try, since you would really like to continue breastfeeding, would be to start really watching what you eat. Meaning, start eating some really bland things: jello, mashed potatoes, etc. Then you can add things in slowly at certain times to try to see whatever you're eating might be the culprit. A nutritionist might be able to help with that, or maybe a lactation consultant?

One other thing to try would be to make sure that for about 30 minutes after she eats, that she's "upright". If she falls asleep, put her in the car-seat.

A., you do not need to switch to formula! Formula I believe would be worse! Try a few of these things: 1.try Gripe water, either "Little Tummies" or "Nature's Bliss" 2. Try a warm compress or tummy massage before bed. 3. Try doing a rectal temp. before bed, it helps to stimulate passing gas and stool. 4. Also, pay attention to your diet, too much fiber or dairy? Maybe try to eliminate one at a time, those two are common factors in gassy babies. Just for the record, Mylicon didn't work for my son either, it just made it worse. Another thing, maybe let her sleep in a swing, that might help relieve gas and help her to sleep better! You are not alone, I've been through it all, this will pass!

This may have already been said, but it is probably something you are eating. My daughter had problems with gas when I was breastfeeding her. I learned later about foods that can cause gas in babies when breastfeeding moms eat them. Caffeine, broccoli, and green bell peppers are a few that I can remember. You may be able to find a site on the internet with a complete list. Good luck!

I feel for you but switching to formula will make it worse. Make sure the baby gets a bottle of water a day, mixed with brown sugar. The Mylican helps, but Meijers & GNC carrie a treatment for infants that is strictly organic. All natual stuff. Try to avoid gashes foods, but I didn't even think about that and I breast feed 2 out of three of my kids. the first one I breast feed, drank nothing but breast milk & I could hardly leave her, so with the second one I gave him a bottle of Enfamile a day or water, to help him move on to mommie being able to leave him. my daughter though was a problem for a while she had colic daily for 3 months, and you can tell it's collic they have belly aches, liked to me in motion at all times or lay on their belly or tightly held. It lasted from 9 pm to 11:30, by 11 pm I was exhausted and in tears so I put her to bed and she cried herself to sleep. But I always baby sit in my home and one great-nephew had the gas problem & I purchased the all natural at meijer & GNC and his troubles ended, rubbing their belly and a warm rag is great

No, there's no reason to switch to formula. You may need to modify your diet. Check Kellymom.com, breastfeeding.com and askdrsears.com for how your diet can affect baby. First, anything that might mak eyou gassy can definitely make her gassy. There there are a lot of things that can do it. Good Luck:)

Congratulations on your new little one! I was going to suggest the same things the Moms already did. My newborn was gassy and I think it was from what I ate-especially garlic and Mexican food. I noticed that for several months. However, if after a few weeks you've tried gas drops, bicycle, gripe water, food diary, and cutting out food, then you may want to check if your baby is having a protein allergy. The baby of a friend of mine had a similar reaction to breast milk and some formulas and is now happily on a special formula. I hope the breast feeding works out!
Also, you can get target brand gas drops and gripe water at Target for less.

There is a particular move that can help the baby's belly, if you look at that page for the I Love You massage.

Also, I highly suggest taking your baby to Dr. April Dunnington in Centerville. She's a chiropractor and has a lot of great experience with helping babies through the transition from birth to being more acclimated to the world. Her phone number is ###-###-#### .
Your baby is still getting used to being out of the womb, and I'm sure this will get better as she grows. Good luck!

Girl, my son was the gasiest little thing!! My sitter even said she'd never seen a newborn be able to clear a room before. Our doc told us to give him Mylecon drops every few hours, like a prescription. It helped, but didn't solve the problem. Fortunately he just grew out of it. He's still incredibly gassy, but it doesn't bother him anymore....LOL.
Good luck.

Hi A., I actually had this problem with my daughter. I also breastfed my daughter and I figured out that it was something that I was eating causing the gas pains. Is there something that you are eating everyday? Maybe cut that food out of your diet. I would stay away from foods that cause indigestion and gas....for my daughter it was lasagna and broccoli. Don't give up on breastfeeding just be more careful with what you are eating. We also use to gently hold her knees up to her chest and this position seemed to help her pass the gas. I hope this helps. I know how this can make you feel as a new mom, but keep giving her the Mylicon drops and watch what you eat and I'm sure you will see a difference.

actually the gas might get worse when you switch to formula, because baby's belly can't digest it as easily. so if you want to sick with breastfeeding go ahead. i was told that if you put a towel or blanket in the dryer to get it warm and then roll it up and place it on the floor. then put baby on top so that the towel is at her lower stomach and that will help loosen some of the gas. or lay baby on her back and slowly scrunch her legs into her stomach and hold it for a second and then release and repeat for a few minutes. hope this helps!

I definitely agree to continue nursing. But you may have to change things about what you are eatingor dringing. something is not agreeing with your baby. Try writing what the changes are down, and do it for 3 days. research the common foods that affect the nursing baby,a nd see if any of it you eat or drink. Also, maybe a few more burps would help too. I find that there are a few more than I initially think. (Especially if someone else happens to have baby and burping thm more than I could- lol)

Good luck and CONGRATS on your new baby. I hope you all can get to relaxing and enjoying each other SOON!

Hi, A.! First of all, congratulations on your new baby girl! I experienced the exact same thing with my last daughter. I nursed her as well, and later I tried to switch to formula (while pumping around the clock... just to keep my milk in case it didn't work out), and formula made it worse!! So, back to nursing we went, and she got a bit better. We used Gripe Water, and that seemed to help take the edge off. You can get it where you get Mylicon (which was worthless for us). We also bought one of those bean bag type things that had the herbs and stuff in it and smelled good, put it in the microwave for a minute to heat it up, and laid it across her belly as we held and bounced her for hours upon end. It helped a little bit. I think the pressure on the tummy helped somewhat. I even put her to bed sort of leaning on it on her side, and I think the warm and pressure helped a little bit. The other thing we did was sort of push the pacifier on her. It helped to stop her crying, so she wasn't sucking in more air and upsetting her belly even more. Now she's 17 months, and hasn't used a pacifier probably since she was 2-1/2 months. She wasn't fond of it, but now loves her thumb!! There's not much you can do for belly pain, but try to keep her as comfortable as you can. Maybe taking her outside will help... I did that at 1:00 a.m. in the dead of winter a few times!! I wish you the best of luck! It's not fun, but trust me, it will end. Ours lasted 9-1/2 weeks. Just have faith!! Good luck and keep calm!!

A.,
I understand where you would really want to breastfeed. Having said that, my niece was born in Jan. Same thing was happening to her. Super super gassy. Lots of pain. The doctor recommended her go on Soy formula. It helped A TON. Natural milk was just too hard on her little tummy.
Good luck!

Congratulations on your new little one. I have 4 children that I have breastfed. When they were newborns they often had trouble with gas so I was careful what I ate. Brocolli, mushrooms, garlic, onions and there may be others. It makes for boring meals for a while but it is worth it. Slowly work them back into your diet in a few weeks. I also know one mom that stopped dairy. She drinks soy or rice milk. She said that the dairy products really irritated her daughter's stomach. Stick with nursing it is so important and worthwhile.

I haven't read all of the reponses to your blog yet, so if I repeat something I apologize! :-) Both of my daughters had pretty bad gas for the firt few months. I assumed it had more to do with my diet and when I brought it up with my pediatrician I was told it could also be because their digestive system was immature. I spoke to a lactician advocate (with my second child) who suggested it was because they weren't getting enough hind milk! The fore milk is digested fast and causes the gas, usually you can tell if this is the issue if their pooh is frothy and usually green. The 'hind' milk is digested much more slowly because that's where all of the fat is and doesn't cause as much of the fermenting that causes the gas. I don't know if you had the same but for the first six months or so I produced milk like crazy! I had to feed my babies on one side two or three times to assure they got the 'hind milk' and the gas issues just went away. Another thing I would do was lay them on their stomachs across my knees (after burping)and jiggle them gently. LOL! Careful doing that if they are really full or you'll get a mess! Baby's Bliss Gripe Water seemed to really help too. Congratulations on your new addition!

I had the same problem with my oldest child. At first we thought it was protien intolerance, so I had to eliminate dairy products from my diet. Eventually I had to stop nursing him at 3 weeks old because he was losing weight and was miserable. He ended up on soy formula because he was also lactose intolerant and there was no way to combat that in breast milk. I did nurse my other two children for several months, but couldn't eat broccoli with either one or tomato products with one of them. I would agree with trying a bland diet and keeping a food diary. It will really help if you want to keep breastfeeding, but my oldest is 15 years old and very healthy, despite the guilt I felt when I had to stop breastfeeding him way back when. Sometimes it is just what's best for the child.

My first daughter had the same problem, it was MISERABLE. My heart goes out to you. No, I don't think gas drops work, either. THe best solution I have is to continually burp her in and upright position like she is sitting with her feet at a 90 degree angle from her body. Sit her up and lean her forward onto one of your hands and apply pressure to her belly in a small circle motion while burping her back with the other hand. This has worked, unlike letting them lay on their and bicycling their feet, where gravity works against you.

Please do not switch to formula! Breast milk is very easy to digest, and I'm sure you are aware of the health and emotional benefits of nursing. However, you might try not cutting dairy and caffeine from your diet for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference. My baby was put on Zantac at 7 weeks to treat GERD, and it helped a lot. I don't know if yours is old enough for this yet, but you could talk to your pediatrician about it. Gas is usually worst when lying down. Try "bicycling" her legs and keeping her upright as much as possible. Good luck!

Make sure you are giving the correct dose. I work in a nursery, and we use Simethicone drops, (generic for mylicon, I think,) and we have to be sure and use 0.3 ml, not the 0.6 ml dose. If you use too much, it can make the cramps worse! Also, try giving the drops before you nurse, not after.
Good Luck.
R.

If you want to breastfeed, then do it. You need to go to a very bland diet, no spicy, gassy foods, dairy, etc. Then if she seems to be better after that you can start to add one thing at a time back in and see how she does. Remember everything you put in your body can affect her. Goodluck

Congrats on your new little girl. I didn't read through all the other posts so this may be a repeat. You may need to eliminate dairy or something from your diet. My sister in law had to do this for all three of her girls. She could only eat very small amounts of dairy with the older two but with the baby she couldn't eat any dairy at all. It caused them to have terrible gas. She also used the gas drops quite often. Some babies are just gassy. A trick she also used that worked for my kids too, is to lay your baby on your lap with her head between your knees. Then slowly pump her legs (kind of like riding a bicycle) It helps tremendously with gas. Every time I did this with my son he tooted up a storm. I hope this helps. Good luck.

My guess would be that there is a lot of dairy in your diet. That would be the first thing I would eliminate. You should see a difference in a week if it is dairy. If you find it hard to give up, you might want to try goat milk instead of cow milk. The protein molecules in cow's milk is very large, and difficult to digest for babies.

In any case, it sounds like a food allergy. Is her bottom red when she poops? Another sign of allergy. If stopping the dairy does not work, then, you may have to try to eliminate other things to see what works: citrus, gluten.

My son went through the same type of thing. He was eventually put on zytrec for almost two years. I took things out of my diet and nothing worked. I would not change to formula, that could really aggrevate the baby's stomach.

i agree that actually switching to formula might make the gas worse especially at first. soy does help but then you are stuck on soy and that has other issues in itself like constipation issues ( i went through the whole gammitt with my son breastfed then switched to formula and he became very spitty then soy and constipation). i noticed when i brought my son home that certain foods i ate made him more gassy/collicy. i went to a very bland diet and that helped some but he was still collicy. the gas drops helped some as did the warm towel. if you want to breastfeed dont give up on that b/c that is best for baby you might just need to change your diet some.

Hi A., I had this same problem with my daughter. Her pediatrician said that being gassy is normal, but he also suggested that I take into consideration what I am eating and how it might be affecting her. After I eliminated dairy products from my diet she didn't seem to be as bothered by it. Every baby is different and it may be not be dairy, but maybe something else you're eating (lots of veggies, spicy foods, nuts, etc.). Trial and error will help you determine if it's something in your diet that is affecting your daugther. Check with your doctor/her pediatrician and they should be able to give you a list of food items to avoid that can cause gas in you and ultimately in her. Also, I would recommend, exercising her legs, pushing her knees up towards her chest, kind of like she's riding a bicycle, that helped a ton with our little girl too. Don't give up on breastfeeding just yet and don't let people make you feel bad about her being gassy. Some family members tried to convince me to switch to formula but we stuck it out and after I switched my diet she was fine. If, however, you switching your diet doesn't help, I would definitely seek your pediatrician's advice about breastfeeding or trying formula and then possibly even special formula for any intolerance she may have. Don't give up yet though! Good luck! :-)

First of all congratulations for your new baby. I see that all the ladies have already told you what you can do with your baby to ease here pain.

I will just add these two things.

1. pretty soon she will learn to hold her head. At that time you can give tummy time under your or somebody else watch. Put a very thin blanket on the floor for protection and then put her down on that blanket on her tummy. If you want then put some toys in front of her in order to keep her occupied. Please never leave here alone at this time.

2. One of the mom suggested you to have gripe water. That works awesome. I am from India and I will assure you that in India you will find gripe water in every mom's house who have small babies. It is must have thing for us. we believe that it is really wonderful for those little stomach. It helps them with acidity and digestion related problems. I have two daughters too 4 year old and 2 year old. When I had my first daughter then I panicked because I was not sure if I will find gripe water here. This is one of things I can't live without. Luckily there are Asian Indian stores where you can find them. I couldn't believe my eyes when one of the mom here suggested you for that. If you haven't tried it yet then you should try it. I use it with my kids and they love it. Now my elder daughter pretend to have problem just to drink that. Believe me it is not harmful for kids at all. Especially no side effects, even if you will give overdose of it accidentally.

I will pray that things to get better with you and your baby soon and there will be no time when this thing will become past for you and your baby. ~Lots of Hugs from my daughters and me to you and your babies~

Congrats on your new little girl. Back in my day it was called colic. The only thing I found is to get a towel nice and warm.....but not hot. I used the dryer......Wrap it around her tummy with the open part to the back, make it snug but not tight. Lay her on her tummy. It put my son to sleep everytime. The heat felt good. I would slowly slip the towel out from under him when he was sound asleep. Hope it works for you. Also, I would lay him across my knees.....with his head facing the floor, and just pat him.......so he would burp...he spit up alot because he ate fast so I had something on my knee for that.. He would burp alot that way.

I had a similar problem with my first, but not to such an extent. Try to record all that you eat. It is possible that what you eat gives her gas. I could not eat onions (and being italian that is mighty hard to do!!) Also, do research on dairy restrictions while breastfeeding. Some of the contents of cows milk can get through your milk and into her and that may bother her too.

Burp her during feedings as well as after. Try letting her nurse for 5 mins, then burping her, then nursing for 5 mins, then burping her and so on. It really does help. Don't switch to formula! There's no reason too. You can also put yourself on a really bland diet. That may or may not help. You can also take her legs, bend them and sort of push them into her tummy. That always helped my little one to get the gas out. (not recommended right after a feeding though!) Infant massage may also help. Best of luck! It's no fun to have a screaming baby!

Hi A.,
I have a few things you can try. My midwife told me these things to try when my daughter had gas as a baby as well. You can put some baby water in a bottle. You just need alittle not a whole lot. Drop a peppermint in the water and let it dissolve. Then shake it up and then just drop a few drops in her mouth or as much as she will take. You could also just put a peppermint in a glass and use a dropper. Either way is fine. I breastfed my daughter too. The other thing is put her on her back and try doing the bicycle with her legs. Plus her legs up to her chest and then straighten them out. This will help plus the gas out. Or another thing to try is sit in a chair. Put your daughter on your lap on her belly. Then rub her back in a circle. This can help move the gas along.

My daughter had bad gas at first and then once she reached 3 months she had colic. And that can be around the same time frame as your daughter. Late at night is usually when colic hits. But hope these things work. Good luck

Hi My son had this same problem when he was an infant (and still does now that he is one). We found out that he has a dairy/soy protein intolerance that was causing the problem. He was also breastfed so when I stopped all dairy and soy products he was much better. You could try for a few days to see if it helps, just make sure you take a calcium supplement for you! He is one now and still can't have dairy but the doc says he still may outgrow it. Best of luck!

congrats on your little girl. it sounds exactly like what my baby had (he is almost 2 now)....he had reflux. he would scream in agony after every feeding. i ended up pumping and giving him a bottle for a long time, b/c he could be more upright. we eventually had to switch to formula and he was put on several different reflux meds before finding one that worked, though b/c i had a 3 yr old too and b/t pumping and feeding him/keeping him upright, etc...my 3 yr old wasn't getting any attention and i was exhausted. good luck, and hang in there!

You need to keep a food diary of what you are eating. SOmething you are eating is bothering your baby. Could even be the vitamins you are taking. Start with this and see if you can rule out speciific foods and then modify your diet. My sister had to do this and had to modify her diet quite a bit. My youngest has gas but I controlled it with the gas drops mostly.

My daughter had this same problem. Mylicon drops just weren't working for her either. I was talking to a lot of moms to figure out what to do. Almost all of them reccomended gripe water. It was amazing. Its a herbal remedy,you can buy it at the store. it has fennel and sodium carbonate in it. Some have other things like chamomile. It helped her gas almost immediately. and she loved taking it, it was sweet tasting. something new for her. :) other than that we did bycicles with her legs, and baths helped relax her to get the gas out too. Good luck.

Mi daughter was the same way. The doctors said there is nothing wrong and it will pass. I was bottle feeding her though. I tried some of the Homepathic remidies, the tryng to burp her before during after feeding. Everything. One day while visiting relatives my Aunt was feeding her and noticed the way she was sucking on the nipple looked like she was getting to much air. Everyone suggested trying a new kind. I picked up a style that was wider at the bottom. It was instant how the crying stopped and she was such a happier baby.
Good Luck!!

try getting rid of dairy in your diet and other gassy things. you can slowly reintroduce as baby gets older. my daughter also had terrible gas...they say she was colicy it lasted about 3 months. anyhow, we are still breastfeeding at almost a year and do "Itsy Bitsy Yoga" (a book by Helen Garabian) almost daily. There are alot of great gas relieving moves in there. good luck!